It's a much warmer day at Wrigley Field, where the wind is now blowing out.

CHICAGO — Wow, what a difference a couple of days makes. After a brutally cold and windy Opening Day, the conditions at Wrigley Field have taken a 180-degree turn. Temperatures will be up into the 60s by mid-afternoon, and the breeze has shifted and is now blowing out to left field.

That should mean a little more offense in Game 2 than there was in Game 1. That also puts some added pressure on Gio Gonzalez to keep the ball down in the zone and in the park. The Nats' new No. 2 starter makes his debut, looking to build off a strong spring training performance.

Right-hander Matt Garza is on the mound for the Cubs, and he'll see the exact same lineup Ryan Dempster saw on Opening Day. No changes for Davey Johnson, so that means Adam LaRoche (who, quite frankly, looked terrible striking out in his first three at-bats before drawing a key walk in the eighth inning) is once again hitting cleanup behind Ryan Zimmerman.

I recall from last year that everyone said ALR was, historically, a slow starter. I hope that's true. Because even on TV it looked ugly. Here's to Gio locating that ball, and out guys connecting with it, with runners in scoring position.GYFNG!

ALR — ok , so he is a slow starter – so why does he have to bat clean up? Can he not bat somewhere lower in the order? As I recall, most of the live pitching he saw in ST was in the minor league side. I just hate to see him in that rally killer spot when he is just not ready to hit yet. He hasn't really played healthy in a very long time.

Davey knows! I just hope he knows more about ALR than what we are seeing now. A nortorious slow starter who had very few reps in ST—this could be an ugly wait.Good thing The Beast can play 1B, and maybe LH Tracy has something to offer,like his last 2B hit.Gooooooooooooo Nats!

ALR should not be hitting 4th until his stroke returns. He would have struck out 4 times yesterday but the ump missed what should have been the called 3rd strike in the 8th on a full count, giving LaRoche a free pass on what should have been the final, rally ending out in the Nats 8th.He should be hitting 7th or 8th until he starts making contact, at least. Having him in the 4-hole almost certainly cost the Nats some runs yesterday, and probably cost SS his first win of the season. I like ALR, but do not ask him to do something he is not yet up to.Laddie_Blah_Blah

Three batters in, and FP has declared that Desmond's steal of 2nd yesterday was yesterday's play of the game. And then he also declared Zim's pick and tag of Soriano trying to swipe 3rd was the play of the game. Hoping to have 4 or 5 more from FP during the next couple innings.

Yes, comment. I had to get rid of cable for financial considerations. I need your commentary.how about this…You can never have enough pitching ? or can you. Nats have to put a middle of the rotation 5 Mill/year pitcher to the minors. Maybe the pitching was strong enough w/o Jackson. Maybe when you have enough pitching, you may want to shore up other weaknesses to create balance. eg: Center Field…take away a couple of pitcher trades, live with a balanced pitching and trade /take chances on some hitting to shore up holes in outfield. (yes and keep Morse at First).This lineup won't hunt.

I'll still post my player projections that I "divined" for the 2012 season :-)But until then here's what I came up with for Gio Gonzalez:18-9, 3.24 ERA, 33 GS, 206 IP, 175 H, 87 BB, 210 SO. Leads the Nats in wins and Strikeouts.

The curve all IS awesome, isn't it? So is that smile. I wish Marlon had bobbled the ball like it looked like he might.Anyone else notice that you HEAR the ball get hit or caught before it shows up on the screen? So disconcerting.

Did you see Matt Garza's reaction in the dugout after he gave up the homer to LaRoche?Jeez, calm down. It's not like he gave up a grand slam on the last day of the season.I'm SO glad the Nats are filled with happy, smiling, yet highly competitive players.

Cwj said… The umpire just cost the Nats 2 runs.It was a clear strike before the triple Not really. Ump hadn't called that a strike all game. Also, Gio caused his own misfortune with a walk, but that's who he is…

Some bad luck, timely hits, and a bad umpire contributes to Gonzalez getting yanked in the 4th.He was wild early, settled down, then appeared to get frustrated when the umpire refused to call his outside fastball a strike.Gio's 6 strikeouts are a sign of things to come though.Shake it off and get 'em next time Gio!

Millone projects as a Lannan with better control.Peacock a long reliever (According to FanGraphs)Chances are neither will come close to winning 31 games over a two year span or become an All-Star.Gio has done that, and he's only 26!

just saying if you're gonna give up the farm you better get what you really need. Otherwise, you go with the farm until what you really need is available. You don't have many opportunities in this game to give up the farm. Rizzo gone in 2013.

I hope you are right Cwj. I think it was a high risk trade because it is possible the trade gives you maybe 5 more wins this year and less as we go out in time. You get a Michael Bourne, Hunter Pence type lead off hitter outfielder for those 4 guys…probably adds up to more wins in the next two years.

Strike zone is very inconsistent today. If our guys ever stop taking turns having hitterish days and all hit on the same day, we will be fine.ALR today — I guess I will take back everything i said about him batting 4th.

Jeff-I wouldn't try to make sense on this website. You will be branded as a "troll". Many here are quite delusional. I think Gio will be good and don't have strong feelings one way or another about the trade, but I am not the GM. Giving up 4 prospects for a guy with such bad control is very, very risky. His job is to get the big moves like this right. He is 0 for 1 with Werth, so Gio will have a big say in determining his success as a GM here in Washington. Werth will be a $126 million bench player by next year if he keeps this up (which we all know he can). You heard it here first.

Yup..We shouldn't give up a lot of leads with our pen. Just need to increase your chances of being in the lead after 6 to bring in Clip,HROD, Lidge, Storen….Just a little more hitting…must we wait for Morse and Bryce. I'll buy cable in July. They both should be playing up here by then.

Jeff- Agreed about the bullpen and hitting.I'm pretty sure Harper will be up by July if the offense remains weak.But I'll be very happy to see Morse in the lineup soon.I think he'll be back next week? Not sure.

Desmond, Espinoza, Zimmerman,Morse,Harper,Werth,LaRoche,Ramosin July….we'll score enough to get by.Off to the bar to watch the end. I like Jane's prediction and the weak Cubs bullpen. Even Werth could get hot hitting against them.

Mark Z wrote: So you know he must have had a good case when he started yapping at Kerwin Danley after the latter rung him…When I read that I thought, "Kerwin Danley caught that ball I didn't want him to catch!" But then I looked at the Cubs line up and saw that THAT was Darwin Barney (I've never heard of him before). No wonder I was confused.But I'm mad at Kerwin, not confused about THAT. And under no delusions that it even matters….

I like the way Stammen pitches to induce weak contact. He got in a little jam there but stayed calm and got out of it. I kind of wish they had let him swing away earlier instead of bunting – he is a very good hitter with lots of hits and rbis considering his limited appearances.

Nats showing off their very talented pitching staff today … even with the off day by Gio Gonzalez. You are seeing why I think they win the division … Hopefully, folks (like JayB) will stop beating the dead horse over Chad Durbin … he might as well be Chad Gaudin. This guy was unhittable as the Syracuse closer he CAN CLOSE for the Nats. But, then so can HRod, and so can Lidge and then there's 98 MPH Storen. Why do you want 4 closers? And what do you do with them? Just watch Davey Johnson this is a bullpen he designed. And that is one thing as a manager he is very, very good at.

Umm — MASN HD is out, even after rebooting my set top box – in the other room, so I wouldn't miss the game ;-)But I think MASN is not showing the game. Instead of the Nats Cubds game, it appears to be an instructional video on how to play moneyball. Just guys taking pitches, then driving the baserunners in.Hope the game comes back on because the Nats were down 4-2 and I think super closer marmol is coming in.

I guess Clip is in both of Davey's A and B bullpens?Stammen was huge today, also. Funny, I thought both Tracy and Stammen would be prime candidates to go when Storen and Ankiel/Morse came back, but not so sure any more.How do you give up Tracy, especially?

Mick said…maybe I am paranoid, but I am not a huge Lidge fan, why not have Tyler finish up the last 2We do not want to burn him out the first week of the season. Also, Davey tries very hard to keep every one feeling like they are contributing.

Jim Webster,This is Adam's walk year (Nat's have an option). That is all the motivation he needs.Also Davey really likes left handed good fielding 1st baseman, see Keith Hernandez and Rafael Palmeiro.Nats WIN!!!!

@Anon 3:46…if you don't know these guys, you are not a true Nats fan..wake up and realize you have a competitive team in front of you…I'm sick and tired of all the negativity around here…its a long season, but Rizzo and Co. have put us in the best possible position to contend this year while not screwing up our future. They have done a great job and know what they are doing, the product on the field speaks for itself

Anonymous said…HRod is going to make us crazy again – looks like bad Henry today. Hope McCatty has a short leash on him. Is Lidge warming up?———————————————–Yeah, right, that was really bad Henry. A real Rizzo "fail" on the Willingham trade.

Storen better watch out…that was UNHITTABLE filth!!! Kimbrelesque if you will!!! Great win today and congrats to Stammen for saving the day and to Davey for managing his best game as a Nationals manager.

Yes Eugene that was nice!This is not your nervous 2011 Henry Rodriguez.He had a great Spring and his command is much better. Might be able to take over the closer position if he gains enough confidence.

If that was Bad Henry, I'm OK if we never see Good Henry.That was just flat out nasty stuff. Does anyone else think DJ is a much better manager for guys like HRod and Stammen? They just seem so much less afraid to fail. Riggleman didn't seem to tolerate "youthful mistakes", for lack of a better phrase.

All you Anon's need to relax there are still 160 games to go. I don't think some of you are going to make it. As for Gio he really didn't pitch that badly. He couldn't throw his fastball for strikes because the ump was not giving the low part of the plate to either team. He pitched more like a AL pitcher he needs to be more aggressive. I bet he goes after the Reds on Thursday.

Seems like our pitchers do better when they pitch to contact and get ground ball outs. Even Stras did that on Thursday. Well, except for Henry, of course. We have certain hitters that need to slap it on the ground, too, instead of swinging for the fences. So, who is still o-fer? DeRosa and Werth?

Didn't see much of the game, but saw when Davey pulled Gio. Toughest decision–is the pitcher not making it, or is he just about to figure it out? Fortunately, we've got this GREAT bullpen, so Davey has choices…Gio, we still love you. Next time.